Heart for Noxus
by Styre
Summary: Only the true Noxians live by the phrase "Blood for Noxus" - only the strong survive. In this place where rank means everything, Riven, a young soldier, has to prove herself. She never thought that it would be easy, but why should the Du Couteau family dictate the rules?
1. I - I

She was born into wealth, no wonder she couldn't understand the struggles of poor people. She made quite a name for herself as she had the top stance within assassins.

The name Du Couteau was an honor to wield by itself, but the older daughter of General wasn't using it for the purpose of being well-known. As a pure blood assassin, the red haired woman wanted to stay in the shadow of her prey, at least she wanted it to be like that for her enemies. Inside the grounds of Noxus, Katarina remained as famous as deadly to everyone but her family.

It wasn't long before they faced each other. The recruits of the Noxian army had to be tested, put into restless training to become the strength of the country.

 _Blood for Noxus._

Orphans weren't treated equally with those of better material status, but even so there was a way to raise the status of the abandoned kids – proving their strength, the power within to take down the rivals and join the army.

Riven wasn't any different.

Orphaned at young age, she had to fight her way into a better life although she was not an average Noxian. The mixed emotions in her brain had no intention to slay everyone into being the ruler, but she had to live and be strong more for herself than the country.

People from higher grounds were taught about the Generals and surnames worth mentioning, but Riven wasn't. From all things people were taught about in the Noxian Academy, Riven knew nothing. She wasn't rich enough to attend it, but taught on the streets she could remember only one phrase, _Blood for Noxus_.

"What are you staring at, tramp?" Sour voice took down the warrior straight to the ground, as Riven realized that she wandered off with her thoughts while her gaze was stuck upon the great assassin of Du Couteau family.

Without a second thought Riven straightened her back and saluting to the higher rank she took a deep breath.

"I apologize for my behavior, ma'am." Her stressed tone seemed off the place. Noxian grounds held no mercy for distracted weaklings. A fighter with tensed up posture was the last one to survive.

"Oi, boss, this one's useless." Katarina pointed at the recruit. They all were lined up, but everyone could easily start looking at the person so stupid to get scolded on the very first day. The smirks on their faces, the higher position they felt they were in. Noxus had no interest in weaklings.

"No, I... I said I'm sorry... I..." Riven's irises doubled the size as she realized what could happen. Her whole career and new life could not be finished right after passing the gates of military area. Out of the instinct, she grabbed assassin's shirt, to stop her.

The movement of the crimson haired beauty was too fast for the poor recruit to grasp. Within a second she was pinned to the wall with a blade struck next to her head. With a saliva hard to swallow she understood that this knife could easily pierce her throat and end her life. Before she could react her dead body could lie on the ground.

"Listen up, mongrel. This place is not for whiny pansies." The voice of the assassin was as sharp as her blade, drilling it's way into Riven's brain with a force of thousand needles.

Riven took all her might to look into the eyes of Du Couteau's daughter. Searching for a good response, she slowly let go of assassin's clothes, but as her fingers drew a short line on redhead's stomach, Riven noticed the slight flinch of Katarina's body. Was the assassin ticklish?

The sudden, barely noticeable blush flashed through redhead's face, but disappeared as fast as it appeared. The excitement mixed with fear swung inside Riven's body when they froze and fought each other using only gaze.

"Katarina, those brats are under me now, so leave them be." Man over a head taller than General's daughter trotted near the scene of assassin's dominance.

"Hmph..." Woman growled quietly, straightening her stance. With surprising ease she pulled the knife out of the wall, and swayed it with gentle movement of wrist. "Teach this tramp how to behave."

"I will." He saluted to redhead before she left.

It might have been Riven's imagination, but she could have swear, that for few seconds assassin was ready to turn around and throw the blade right at her. As if to test her. The warrior let out a sigh of relief when she realized that it would not happen.

The wealth Riven wasn't born into could be gained if she would only climb the ladder of military ranks. Losing an opportunity before even starting the career, would definitely not be a good thing.

She avoided looking at the smirks of the people around and focused her vision on the new combat teacher. She had to be strong.

 _Blood for Noxus_.


	2. I - II

No one has ever said that the Noxian training camp will be easy to go through, but even so, the tough methods of teaching aspiring soldiers about life in battlegrounds were made as if to scare the weak. Noxus was no place for cowards. They either had to storm through the bodies of the enemies or die trying, and those dying were labeled as weaklings.

Riven was prepared for it since she was a kid. The never ending line of bullies had never abandoned her side - even in the army.

The chance of being the only woman in the whole year of newbies was a common thing. Even if women didn't have the great strength that male body possessed, some of them preferred to only attend self-defense lessons and stay at the country to marry into a wealthy family and raise the new generation of soldiers.

It wasn't a surprise for anyone that assassin group had more females, as the flexible bodies of fragile women had more use of the skills for a silent execution of single target. But the warriors had to deal with more enemies in their way, the durability of one's body and mind had to be as great as man's. Brute strength was above the unique skill.

Riven never felt weak, she always thought of herself as a strong and independent person. Her lonely life had led her to be like that. The days of childhood which she never had and the aggressive behavior of people around her - everything taught her the art of street fighting, the most popular act on the poorer districts of Noxus.

The training grounds were different, one had to go through the exhausting series of the various exercises to raise the level of stamina. Since the first day the recruits were taken through the never-ending practice, minding only the strongest attendant. The rest had to adjust their limits, or rather go way above them, just to not be thrown away.

Even when Riven started to lose her breath, she had to keep on going. The whole practice was unfair, but she enjoyed it. The Noxian training gave Riven the new purpose to follow -to get through the limits of her body and live for Noxus.

It has been a month since she joined the army. A whole thirty days of never-ending pain in the muscles. At first, she was counting the guys running away from the camp, but after few weeks her mindset was clear - those were cowards not worth remembering.

For past thirty days she has never made any friends, just like a lonely wolf. She did not bother to open her mouth to anyone but her trainers.

Talking seemed pointless. She was taught to not brag about strength, but simply show it with her calm stance. At least that was her mindset, the thing officers lacked, commanders understood and generals mastered.

"Owwie..." A quiet voice took Riven of her track when she realized someone accidentally collided with her on the hallway.

She stared for a second at the woman in front of her, a beauty with long brown hair curled at the bottom. Her clothes were surely made with an expensive material as Riven could swear that she never saw those in the area she lived.

It was the fault of both that they fell on each other, but Riven felt the gentleman-like need to apologize to this woman, as she surely was worth more than the mere soldier.

"My apologies, ma'am. Are you okay?" Without further thinking, she reached her hand out to the beauty.

"Ah, yeah, my fault, don't mind it, kitten." She didn't accept Riven's hand and just smiled gently.

soldier's eyebrows went up so fast, she actually confused herself by it. No one had ever called her like that. It felt... Weird.

"Fuck, Cassi! I told you to wait for me..." Right from the same corner appeared the other woman. Riven froze for a second as she recalled the first time she met Katarina Du Couteau.

The sudden silence between them made the whole situation somewhat awkward for Riven, and she was not sure if it was because of her lone wolf attitude or she was just bad with dealing with people in general.

"... Mongrel." Red haired woman smirked a little. "Who would've know that pansies like you may survive more than a week."

"I would consider your words rather as compliment instead of insult, and so, then thank you, ma'am." Riven put on a straight face and tensed up when her eyes meet Katarina's.

Chuckle from brown haired woman confused the young soldier, but she had no idea if she should dare and turn her eyes away from the assassin.

"Mongrel? That's hilarious, Kat! Your dictionary improved since your last mission!" Redhead's green eyes widened when she heard the insult from the person she knew, but what really annoyed her was the sudden, little smirk that disappeared just as fast as it appeared on Riven's face.

"You've got something to say?" Katarina gritted her teeth, piercing the tanned woman with the deadly glare.

"Who knows?" Soldier shrugged, and smiled to herself before passing next to assassin. She turned to the brown haired beauty. "Sorry for not paying attention and getting in your way."

Younger woman's face brightened up followed by short "That's okay", but their eyes didn't meet after those words.

Riven didn't have to give it a longer thought to notice that both women were surprisingly similar in appearance, and, by the way they were interacting, she assumed that they were born from the same blood.

While her eyes were caught by brown haired beauty, there was something about redhead's attitude that couldn't make Riven simply let go.

She had to admit, aside from wanting to be in good position within the Noxian army, the other reason of her going forward even stronger was to not give the redhead satisfaction. She didn't want to be seen as weak.

"Mongrel...!" The harsh voice made her halt, and look behind. It was quite a distance between them, before Katarina called out. "Name."

The simply thing that sounded like command made Riven want to laugh. She was not sure which one really wanted an answer, but it was the assassin who had enough confidence to do so. Although it was clear that she wanted to answer, Riven just smiled and ignored it.

"If you want to know, find me again." She whispered to herself and kept on going. Though she was a lone wolf, she could make use of some people, and she was sure that the assassin would come to her one way or another.


	3. I - III

The goal of Riven was clear, to gain the knowledge and strength by the ways of the Noxian Army, but also to get a proper rank to stand above the level she was already at. To get through the difficulties of climbing the social ladder, she had to make meaningful connections and to use some people.

Katarina Du Couteau seemed the perfect example of being not only born into the wealth, but also showing enough skill to get the high rank between assassins. Since the redhead woman had shown the interest in the tanned warrior, Riven aimed for her. But as a simple solider, she knew nothing about the assassin's character.

"Grab the weapon, girl." A man similar to a walking mountain placed his hand over Riven's shoulder, interrupting her never-ending pile of thoughts that was going through in her mind.

The only response he received was a simple nod, as she didn't bother to open her mouth. The well-made weaponry of Noxus was placed right before her. She had to admit - she was impressed by not only the quality but also by the various types of blades. The military arsenal was well prepared for the tastes that some people had.

She was impressed, but not a single blade felt like it was made for her to use. She thought that soldiers weren't looking over the weapon matching their style, but the looks. She was different.

All the blades too small for her taste, she needed to feel the weight of the weapon. The burden of being the soldier and the mass that not everyone could master.

Of course, it was only for the practice, they were informed that after passing and becoming the true strength of Noxus, they would get the proper weapon made only for their use.

She chose the greatsword, the one big enough to make her muscles hurt while holding it still.

"Are you out of your mind, kid?" The man from before laughed openly. It seemed hilarious for him that the girl, smaller and definitely less strong than him, picked the weapon which she could barely hold.

"No." The short response got out of her mouth right before he snatched the blade out of her hands.

He held it high, measuring the length with his eyes and weight. It was definitely too heavy for Riven to wield.

"Give it back." She growled while trying to reach for the hilt. From all the things that she experienced, Riven couldn't stand mockery.

"What is happening over here?" Blade master walked up to them with a grimace.

"Yo, teach' look it up! Girly picked this sword!" With a proud expression painted on his face, big man waved the weapon.

"If that's what Riven wants, then give it back. She will learn to use it." Master cut it short and gesticulated to give her back the sword.

Surprised, he growled with anger and with full force pierced the ground with it. The blade did not break, but it was halfway in the rough earth, like Excalibur waiting to be pulled out of the stone.

Riven breathed out the air in disapproval as this man's behavior was not better than a mere child's. He was simply showing off, but had nothing important to get through with. Yet his mockery was enough for the young woman to sweat up, as she was trying to get the blade out of the earth, which was not so easy.

Noxian blades were the top class ones in the whole Valoran, just like armor had best quality in Demacia, and Riven could not stop thinking of getting her own weapon that could match her will. Being the master of a normal sword or axe would not be enough, the weight should be able to bring her to the knees, but also keep her focused on holding the tight grip of the hilt.

The sword she chose wasn't as she would want to have, but it had the closest design to what she desired, and so, she didn't want to give up on it.

The weight was making her wrists hurt, as she never had a weapon other than her bare fists, but after weeks of the Noxian training schedule, she knew that a pain like this would soon disappear and her muscles would be able to bear it.

First lesson was, to Riven's surprise, more of a theoretical one rather than actual practice. Unusual thing for Noxians, but she had to admit, if those people could craft fine blades, like the army had, they had to expand the knowledge of the rookies.

She thought that the trainer would not bother with her, but Riven was never so wrong. Whenever he was passing next to her, he was forcing her to hold her blade at least few centimeters above the ground. Though it was annoying, she understood that it was only for her own good to get accustomed to the weight of the heavy weapon.

The long four hours of not letting the sword touch the ground and listening to the master made Riven really wish for the exercises they were putting rookies through earlier. The hand-to-hand combat, as well as running to increase the stamina, were more absorbing and interesting than just standing without moving.

Though Riven had finally found someone who could have understood her, or at least she thought so, she was surprisingly shy and not sure when to ask the blade master the questions bothering her for a few days ago. When her sword hit the ground for the very first time it was the sign that her shaking hands could not withstand the weight any longer, and so the lesson was finished.

"Sir." Riven put her hands behind the back, to not show how weak they felt and how much she was shaking. "May you spare me a moment, for a quick question?"

"The curious mind of one can be filled with answers if asked the right way, what would you like to know young soldier?" He smiled gently, and for a short second Riven felt like he was not just a Sword Master, but a wise elder. The way he was talking to soldiers was either strict and short or a full sentences filled with the knowledge.

"It bothers me since I joined the Army, and as you can see I do not have a lot of acquaintances to sell answers from." She stood still though the pain in her shoulders was almost unbearable. "There's a woman in the Capital, I would like to know more about. The assassin with red hair, that's..."

She wanted to know more about Katarina - the woman that held more power, the one that could notice Riven's strength and make her climb the ladder of military ranking way faster.

"If you do mean miss Du Couteau, you can ask her yourself as she, in fact, is about to use the training field today." Riven grit her teeth as she understood one thing.

Even the uneducated kids knew the name of Du Couteau, the family described as the top one in Noxus. General Marcus with the great spirit able to make people follow him and the most skilled among the assassins. With two as beautiful as gifted daughters, he was one of most recognizable figures in the Empire of Noxus.

The progressing information inside Riven's brain made her straighten her back. If she was the daughter of General Du Couteau, Riven did not only meet both daughters but also aimed way too high.

And she was not so nice to the redhead. She didn't pay proper respect to a higher rank assassin.

The only thing she prayed for was for Katarina to not be the daughter of Du Couteau, but someone else.

"Miss Katarina, would you mind?" Sword Master looked over Riven's arm at the woman behind them, and soldier felt her stomach getting smaller.


	4. I - IV

Katarina Du Couteau, the daughter of General Marcus and the high tier assassin, was right in front of Riven in less than few seconds since the Sword Master called out to her.

For the first seconds, Riven wanted to magically teleport of out the place or take her words back. The whole idea of gathering information about Katarina presumed it to be done without the redhead knowing about it, and Riven's sneaky operation failed before it even started. Her mind went simply blank when her eyes met Katarina's.

The saliva never seemed so hard to be swallowed.

Riven lowered her head and tried to find any point in the ground to look at. She couldn't get herself to look into Katarina's eyes, not in this moment, not when she was exhausted.

The pain Riven was feeling was one of the greatest ones. If she wanted to be noticed, there should not be any weaknesses visible. And yet, her whole body itched, she was trying to hold herself together not to tremble in front of Katarina who would most likely be tempted to leave mean comments about Riven's condition.

"I will leave you for now, remember about tomorrow's training." Sword Master looked at young soldiers and smiled before simply walking away, leaving Riven in situation she would love to avoid.

"Mongrel." Katarina placed hands on her hips and snickered. "Missed me?"

The mix of seductive and yet mocking voice made the young soldier hold her breath. She was not ready to ask Du Couteau about things that bothered her. It took Riven quite a while before the voice left her throat.

"As if." Soldier mumbled, still not looking up at the assassin's face.

"Oh?" The slow movement of Katarina's arm caught Riven's attention. The long, slim fingers touched soldier's neck and moved upwards to the jawline. Slim yet strong, the hand forced Riven to look into Katarina's eyes. "I thought that even mongrels get lonely, but I guess that's what makes you survive more, huh?"

For a split moment Riven could not understand the meaning behind those words, but Katarina continued.

"You, dogs who can't appreciate the lives of anyone but yourselves, will live long and die like cowards." The fingertips studied Riven's jaw. "But who would ever check what's inside your guts, excluding enemies."

"Huh..." Riven frowned. "Assassin, who talks about caring and appreciating lives. I guess we can find a walking paradox in Noxus."

"Mongrel, don't you think too high of yourself?" Katarina smiled more to herself than to Riven, looking at her own image in soldier's eyes.

"Shut it, I'm tired of this nickname." She really was, but at first she didn't really want to say it out loud. The words simply escaped from her lips.

"Shut it." Even though Katarina did not say anything, Riven repeated her words and forcefully shoved off redhead's hand. "High tier assassin my ass, you lower yourself to a rookie, because what? It's entertaining? Fuck off."

It was a foul move.

Up until now Riven didn't notice the man beside Katarina. He took few steps and grabbed Riven's neck. With a full force he put her down to the ground like she was weighting less than a feather.

Kneeling next to her side, he pulled out a blade and put to her throat.

"Your life may mean less than the respect they taught you." His voice, as sharp as the blade he was holding, made Riven come back to her senses.

"Oh come on Talon, don't be mean to lil` mongrel, she'd never hurt me." Katarina laughed quietly and sat on the ground to match their level. "She's too weak anyway."

Riven growled in response, but she couldn't deny the assassin's words. For now she was weak, but her growing strength could overcome the swift moves of an assassin one day.

"You can check it, your bare hands are enough to take down wild dogs like her." Katarina did not hide her rising excitement over seeing Riven meeting the ground once again, even though she didn't stand up yet.

Riven had a problem with understanding her words again, and felt like she was facing a true sadist. Du Couteau wanted her to spar with her friend. Not to acknowledge Riven's strength, but to make fun of the newbie.

She struggled to stand up. The hours of the training she had earlier definitely pushed her towards the limits and the shaking muscles would not take any more. The knees barely took her weight, but she looked at the man next to her with a dumb pride in her eyes.

With a deep breath, Riven flexed a little to remind her ligaments that they should work properly for at least some time.

"I'm not weak." Her willpower made her voice not tremble, even though her body did.

The man put down few daggers and looked at Katarina before standing up to face his opponent. The bloodlust did not leave the assassin's appearance, even though he had no weapon. Riven bit on her cheek to stay calm.

Young soldiers had never experienced a fight with the assassin. She knew that if she would have been attacked by one, her body would be underground for a long time already. Their swift moves and precision was on a whole other level compared to normal fighters and the brute strength of average soldier.

Although his slim body seemed weak, Riven started to think a lot about his possible weaknesses. The hit she took earlier was strong but not enough to make her vision start to blur even with the added impact she took hitting the ground. Her first assumption was simple - in her highest spirits she could match his strength bare handed. The second thought appeared as fast as the first one, with a body like his, the man would definitely be very agile.

Her strategy was simple - to predict his first hit and counter it. If the first blow would be predicted, she could either have enough time to strike or at least be noticed as not a bad opponent.

When Riven had straightened her back, Katarina looked at her friend and slowly nodded her head. It meant one thing to the man, he could have his few seconds of fun.

Talon's moves seemed to be on a whole different level of fighting posture. The quickstep made Riven almost believe that teleportation was a normal thing for people without magical abilities. His steps were almost too fast to be noticed with bare eyes. The true dance of an assassin, Riven seeing it for the first time in her life.

She was unable to follow his movement and just jumping behind was not an option, but she was sure that her senses were not stupid. As soon as she felt his presence in front of herself, she put her arms up in order to block the hit aimed at her throat.

Riven never thought that someone could actually change the direction of their body within a split of second. Talon's hand never touched Riven, in fact, she never saw him in front of herself.

Her eyes widened as she realized that the assassin was right behind her.

With a single kick she was on the knees, gasping for the air. Thanking herself for being able to twist her body just enough to get the hit on her stomach, not the ribs. The tightened abdominal muscles made her reduce the damage a little, but it was not enough to not feel the enormous amount of the pain.

Riven felt like a disgrace, the so-called sparring didn't even last a whole minute but she already lost it horribly. She couldn't withstand the exhaustion caused by the training, making her willpower drain out very quickly.

"Not worth." His quiet words reached Riven's ears and caught her attention. But as fast as she looked up to him, she felt a horrible wave of pain in her face, before blacking out and hitting the ground.

Long hours passed before Riven regained her consciousness. The itching sensation in her body seemed to stop being as rough as before, but the burning feeling in her face didn't stop existing. Her head seemed to be too heavy to rise.

She had to let a few minutes pass before slowly opening her eyelids, to see the sky. The dusk was presenting himself in front of her and she began to wonder how long has it been since she was knocked out.

She knew she was weak, but never thought that she would lose within one hit. Since she was just a kid, she had to fight in order to survive, as a lot of orphans had to do. But even so, she was never forced to kneel on the ground before bringing the other one with her.

'Fucking Du Couteau.' She thought and gripped her fists.

"Oh, you woke up." The voice next to her made Riven snap her eyes open, but she had yet to get up.

She didn't answer, only turned her head to see the red haired assassin laying on the ground next to her.

"Mongrel, I have been wondering, what's your name?" Katarina didn't turn her face from the sky, but Riven could sense the assassin's irises turning towards her.

Few seconds had to pass before the soldier could actually answer, but before doing so, she smiled.

"Riven Storm." A proud response got out of her throat.

"You asked me why I'm lowering myself to you." Katarina slowly got her back out of the ground and crossed her legs before looking at Riven. "If you want to know, there's a fighting event in two months. If you'll win I may answer you."

"They aren't letting rookies into the ring. It's for the..." The Arena was held twice a year, the event was created in order to show the strength of the members of the army and their experience in continuous blood bath in order to name a champion.

"That's why I asked about your name. Don't disappoint me." Katarina's palm reached to Riven's face and covered her eyes. "Prove me wrong or die there, I'll watch you, Mongrel."

Riven gritted her teeth. The touch she felt a second ago disappeared as well as the silhouette of the assassin.

She just couldn't believe that she took the bait right from the assassin's hands and revealed her full name without thinking of consequences.

"Fucking Du Couteau." She repeated, but this time out loud.


	5. I - V

The sun had started to disappear behind the mountain on which the capital of Noxus was built. The dusk approached and training sessions for the soldiers were long over, but not for the one rookie that declined to leave the training grounds.

With the heavy blade in her hands, Riven had breathed out heavily. Her fingers had never let go of the handle for many long hours. Even now, as she was sitting cross-legged on the ground, the sword was not rested on her lap, but the edge was facing the sky.

It had been a rough time, but since the day before, Riven had sworn to herself to learn the ways of using the weapon. The thing coming before the combat was the hardest part - learning how to bear the weapon's weight properly.

"You seem to be in the high spirits, young soldier. Training even while others are long gone." The sword master stepped onto the training grounds after noticing that one of his students was still there. "Or are you perhaps waiting for someone?"

"I'm not waiting, sir." She responded quietly after some time. Her voice gave out hints of exhaustion, although it was not on purpose.

"Oh? Your voice sounds quite surprising, considering your hard work." He circled the young soldier, taking a good look on the woman's posture. "Strength of the muscles is not a thing to match the strength of one's mind, but I can assure you, it will come after time. Do not over do it."

"I can't feel my flesh. I was hurting in the morning, now I can't feel anything." The reply rasped out of her throat. "If I can't feel, then I might as well continue to be here."

The master took a few more steps, glancing at Riven's body to examine his student's condition for one last time. It was not the first person that he had seen with such an attitude, and with an honest expression of worry on his face, he simply nodded.

There were not many soldiers willing to push themselves to the limits, and yet, those were the ones most vulnerable in matter of reaching the critical point, forcing their body to step down and never reach their true potential as warriors. But he knew that the words he could have said, might be never considered as the ones to follow by those marking their own way.

He left her alone, but Riven didn't even notice his lack of presence. She did not even mind if he was there or not. It was her time to think, that's why, instead of going around the place whilst swinging the sword, she remained in lotus position, with her mind filled with various thoughts.

Yesterday she had made a mistake which led her to reforge her own spirit, to build it anew.

For her whole life Riven wanted to be something, not the average street rat, but a person people had faith it. She wanted the power so she could live a better life and also be this important part of the country that she had been so proud of.

As her hands had shaken, the blade finally loose free from her tight grip. With a quiet sound of the impact, Riven had opened her eyes and directed her gaze onto the night sky.

The pain she had felt since the morning had yet to disappear, but for a short while, she felt more tired than hurt.

Without a doubt, Riven was reaching her limits, and had to stop. Her fingers were trembling, as if she was playing an invisible guitar and she couldn't stop the movement. Straightening them felt like a bigger challenge than holding onto the sword for hours without a break. Just for a few minutes she put her palms onto the ground and tried to bury them under the ground.

The night sky was surely soothing, but her mind could not find the peace.

A few deep breathes helped Riven with getting grip of herself, yet the negative emotions from the previous day were still lurking. The feeling of being weak was something that she could not stand.

Since being a kid, she wanted to be not only noticed by the ones with power, but to also be the one wielding that power, to not be another street trash, surviving from one day to another, praying for the mercy while encountering the stronger people.

"To Hell with it." The quiet growl she had let out was the sign of her being ready to finally stand up. With aching muscles, she made her way to the room near the entrance and dropped the practice weapon in there.

The training grounds were placed on the lower part of the mountain thus keeping the fresh air flowing into the bodies of the warriors, and also showing the giant capital of Noxus. The morale sure was rising because of sight, as many of recruits wanted to be accepted into the society that ruled on the top.

The insides of the mountain looked as incredible as the hill itself. The long hallways, looked like dungeons, and, as Riven expected, the underground parts had the prison-like rooms. The city itself seemed to not be as gloomy, but rather proud and calming. It wasn't long since she started living in the capital, so it was not surprising that she had yet to learn about various paths inside the mountain. At least she remembered the way to the dinning hall and the barracks.

The echo of her own footsteps was disturbing Riven, as again, she felt all alone. Since her arrival, she did not make any allies, not like she minded it, but the feeling of having someone to back her up, could be quite useful, especially if she wanted to be noticed faster. But wanting to be viewed as reliable and powerful was not on peaceful grounds with her lone wolf attitude.

A quiet sigh escaped from her mouth as her body leaned onto the wall. The sticking waves of pain were making it not so easy to move in the normal tempo.

"What's troubling you, sweetie?"

It took Riven a while to realize that she actually heard someone's voice. Her eyes slowly caught the silhouette of a person she had once met.

Cassiopeia Du Couteau walked towards her with a mysterious smile drawn on her face.


	6. I - VI

The moment their eyes met, Riven knew it was a sign of upcoming trouble. From all people living in the capital of the Noxus Empire, she had to meet the younger daughter of the Du Couteau's family. On that very moment she wished to disappear and hide in her room, to not be seen in this condition.

"Everything's alright." The simple lie answered Cassiopeia's question, but the tone of Riven's voice was not as healthy as when they talked before.

The exhaustion was triggering a red alert in the soldier's head, as she knew she had to give herself into the embrace of the bed to not experience the hard love from the cold ground.

"You want to be tough, but that's only an act, isn't it?" Cassiopeia laughed, while taking another step to close the distance between her and the soldier.

"Is there anything you need?" Riven responded with a question, crossing her forearms to give them a little rest. Until she would have made it to her room, she had to withstand the pain.

"I was looking for my cute brother, but it seems that you were easier to be found, I guess." The never-disappearing smile seemed so pure and charming, many women could actually envy the younger Du Couteau. If they weren't in the Noxus, Riven would never think that Cassiopeia might be a dangerous person.

Though, she had never heard stories about the younger daughter's accomplishments. Her name was always mentioned after Katarina's, all while talking about General Marcus Du Couteau.

"I had no idea that General Du Couteau had a son." Before Riven stopped herself and be more careful with her words, she just blurted out what she had in mind, especially since she could have sworn, that she never heard any male name excluding the General's.

Cassiopeia arched her eyebrow, surprised.

"You dropped honorifics, it feels more right." With every step she had made, the curly hair bounced gracefully. She was not looking as dangerous as her older sister, but she was kind of intimidating. "But before flashing knowledge about someone else, you could've introduced yourself."

Riven felt the air stop in her throat, creating an uncomfortable blob which she couldn't swallow as Cassiopeia stood only half of a step away from her body.

The sudden realization stumbled upon the young soldier - she was way too tired to remember about using the polite form of speech. Just as she wanted to apologize, the woman in front of her interrupted.

"You're right though, we're not related by blood." Riven could feel the warmth of the other person's breath crashing onto her neck.

If sudden lack of the breathing space was not enough to make her vision blur, the sticking pain in her body was just right for it. She had no strength left to keep leaning straight on the wall, but slowly, she stopped hearing the words spoken by the younger Du Couteau and started to slide down, reaching the embrace of the cold ground.

The warmth of the sheet under her body made Riven realize it was not the ground she had woken up to. At first she kept her eyelids closed, trying to recognize the room she found herself in by sounds, but to her own disappointment of being unable to hear anyone, she had finally decided to open her eyes.

The bright walls and the curtain circled around the space of the bed she was in. It made her understand where she had found herself. The only place she wished to never visit, the capital's hospital.

It's not that Riven hated the doctors, she just simply thought that ending up in this place would mean that she's weak, and there were no place for weaklings in Noxus.

When she tried to move her arm, Riven felt her body disobeying the command. She focused on the movement, trying to repeat the action, but there was something restraining her. It caused her to panic a bit.

As she could not raise her arms, she started trying to order her body to move the legs, but apparently everything was chained down, though there was nothing placed on her skin. It felt suffocating, and terribly wrong.

In all panic she caused while trying to free herself, Riven didn't notice someone entering the room. It didn't matter for her who was it as long as she could move her body at will.

"Calm down!" The loud voice made Riven stop and look at the person who, she could swear he just appeared out of nowhere, next to her bed. Judging by the clothes, it was the same person that decided to pin her down on the hospital bed.

"You soldiers are all the same." Medic crossed arms at the height of his chest and looked really not pleased with his new patient. "Always thinking you're capable of everything and then being useless."

Riven's eyes opened wider upon hearing those words.

"What do you mean, sir?" She finally gave up on trying to force any of her muscles to move. Her irises focused on the doctor next to her.

"How long have you been in the army, kid?" The question made the soldier a little confused.

"Soon the second month of my arrival will pass." She tried to count the days, but still was not sure. The one week of the training she had to do felt like a month for her.

"I'm quite surprised." The first words spoken by the medic were as if stolen right from Riven's tongue. "Your body seems like it took years to train, but even so, you're about to destroy yourself, kid."

"Sir... I don't think I understand." She didn't. Yes, the training she had to pass through every single day was tough and after every session she felt less than being able to get out of the bed, but she also felt stronger with each week. She never thought that two days of not respecting the limits of her current strength would put her physical state into a dangerous position.

"What I mean is, you should be glad that Miss Cassiopeia got you in here. If you put too much stress on the ligaments you may cause them to weaken and get yourself out of the army for either few months or forever." His voice didn't waver once, but his fingers were tapping onto his forearm as if he would be worried. "I've checked your body, but the treatment has yet to work. Until tomorrow you should not move to make the magic work properly on your body, that's why you're put under restraining runes."

Magic - that should explain why Riven was not able to move, even if there were no chains or cuffs. Though she did not expect this medic to be a mage, he seemed more like a physical type than someone using the force she had no idea about.

"I already informed Miss Cassiopeia that you won't go out until tomorrow, she seemed disappointed." He put a hand on Riven's leg and the bright light covered his palm. She never had any close experience with the magic, but the feeling of it was kind of calming. Her muscles were relaxing a bit after a few seconds of his power doing its job.

Still, she was highly disappointed in herself, like she lost a bet. The worse part than just ending up in the hospital was the fact that she had to remain there without moving until the next day.

Even though she was a little grateful to Cassiopeia for wanting to help her, a simple 'Fucking Du Couteau' crossed her mind one more time.


	7. I - VII

Although Riven had the worst time of her life trying to fall asleep in the hospital bed, when she woke up the following day, her body seemed surprisingly fine.

Her muscles were not in any pain, though she could feel that being restrained for so many hours affected her not in a good way.

For the first time she felt tired, maybe even exhausted, but not because of her rough training, but by spending too much time in the bed. It seemed really weird as she thought that she would feel definitely rested.

When her movement was freed from the invisible chains, she barely managed to raise her hand. It took her a while to get used to that feeling.

Although her body was fine, her mental state was kind of blocking her well being. As a type to mostly do something, it felt highly uncomfortable for Riven to stay still and let the time flow. She wasn't really the type to meditate and slow her pace down at all.

When she finally sat on the bed and put her feet on the floor, the man who took care of her looked displeased at the soldier.

"Your body won't take much in such a short time, so as for now you have to take it easy and not use too much strength. I would suggest you to only do agility training if you just can't wait a week to fully heal. That would be it." The medic looked over the card he had prepared earlier. "I will need you to sign this."

"What's that?" the soldier looked confused at the paper.

"The results and bill. You have to sign this to show that you're aware of the things I've told you." The short explanation was almost to point out that Riven was not familiar with this stuff, or maybe even mock her in some way.

"Uh, oh... Right." With not so sure grip on the pen, she signed the paper and prepared herself to leave.

It was not the medic's fault that she wanted to leave so soon. But she really didn't feel like staying in the hospital any longer as she would never go in there by herself in the first place.

There was only one downside to all of this. Although she was a proud Noxian, Riven was not really familiar with the Capital's area.

As an orphan raised near the Capital, she could only hear about this place, and first time she reached it, it was only to became a soldier. Se never had the time for sightseeing.

"I've been waiting!" A cheerful voice greeted her just as Riven exited the building. At first she didn't realize that the sentence was meant for her, but as soon as she noticed the person standing few meters away from her, Riven froze.

Cassiopeia Du Couteau was standing in front of the hospital, waiting for her.

At that certain moment, Riven got seriously concerned if she should be more afraid of the older or the younger sister.

"Uh, hello." The awkward greeting was the only thing, soldier could think of. Cat got her tongue.

"I thought that you wouldn't be fresh today, but I thought that taking a shower wouldn't be needed..." A kind of disappointed voice took Riven off guard.

With a confused look on her face, the soldier just opened her mouth to close it, repeating the action few times while trying to think of the good reply.

"I guess it can wait, I wouldn't want to show up with someone not properly dressed." Not minding the soldier's reaction, Cassiopeia continued. "Would you mind if I waited at your place until you're done?"

"Excuse me, what." Riven finally spoke, making her question not really sound like one. She just spat out her confusion with it.

"Oh sweetie, we're going for lunch! Maybe that way I'll convince you to introduce yourself." The playful wink appeared on Du Couteau's face, before she closed the distance.

"Didn't your sister tell you that? I'm Riven." The soldier couldn't make her face expression change from confusion into the neutral one. At least she thought that with this simple answer she would get away from the younger daughter of the General Du Couteau.

"Of course she did! But I wanted to hear it from you." Cassiopeia put her hand on Riven's elbow. "That is still just a mere excuse, as I may know more than you think."

The fingertips of the younger Du Couteau put pressure on Riven's arm and, though her words didn't seem friendly, the smile appeared once again on her face.

"Shall we?" The last question made Riven think once again about the part of which one of General's daughters she should be afraid of. At this moment Riven was sure she just got her answer.


	8. I - VIII

Riven's room was not exactly messy, but it was also not really clean. The whole place did not change ever since she started living there.

The clothes she owned since before joining the army, were mostly placed inside the boxes, though some lying right near them. Nothing was put on the walls or on the floor. It simply looked like someone just moved in.

Riven could not care less about her room. She was mostly going out for her training sessions, coming back to take a shower and to crash into her bed.

The army was providing just a simple space - one room with a bed and not exactly long table with two chairs. The second room was destined to be a little bathroom with only a toilet and a shower.

Even if it was small, Riven always felt grateful for not having to share the bathroom with other people. She didn't seem like a shy person, but she appreciated the given privacy.

"There's no couch or anything, so um, if you don't mind you can sit on the chair or on the bed." Riven's voice sounded not too confident, as it felt for her like she brought someone onto her private territory.

Cassiopeia just smiled in response and watched the soldier trying to find a new pair of clothes in one of the boxes. As fast as Riven could, she grabbed the things closest to her fingers and just went straight into the bathroom.

It did not feel like best thing to do and she was well aware of this. From what she heard, even though Cassiopeia was the younger sister, she was as skilled as the other members of her family. Letting a spy into her room would never be the greatest idea.

But at a time like this, Riven knew that her life was not exactly something others would call important. She was simply a no one, without a family or rank, a random soldier who had joined the army in order to serve the Noxian Empire.

The cold water hit Riven's face, bringing her mind straight back to reality taking all of her might to not squeal like a little girl. With a fast movement, as a result of her panic, she turned the shower head at the side of the wall and with her heart beating faster than it should, she waited for the warm drops, not that she ever minded the cold showers, but to take one, she had to be mentally prepared for the sudden temperature change.

She would lie, if she would say that her meeting with Cassiopeia is nothing special. Yet, Riven had not a single clue why the young Du Couteau preferred to waste her precious time by spending it with her.

Even if the soldier wanted to spend some more time having her body embraced by the warm drops of the water, the pressure of having a guest kept her from that idea.

The fluffy towel she had received from the owner of the orphanage as a farewell gift pressed against her body. It felt like a true luxury after spending the night in the hospital bed with the not so comfortable sheets.

Not like she would admit it to anyone, but even if she was working hard and trying to become as tough as possible, she still had a lot of feelings. This gift was the first one she ever got from anyone, and the person who gave it to her was acting more like a mother than a patron.

The clothes Riven wore were not the top quality ones like Cassiopeia had, but she did not own anything better, and it didn't matter at this point. As a soldier, Riven didn't have to own any goods, the only thing that mattered was if she had enough strength to become better than a mere warrior.

The door clicked as Riven finally got out of the bathroom, hair still half wet. She didn't expect the younger Du Couteau to sit patiently in the chair, but she was not expecting the view in front of her.

Cassiopeia had her feet on the ground, but the rest of her body was down on Riven's bed, stretching on it like a snake. And Riven would lie if she would say that she did not look at the slim and very attractive body of the noble girl.

"Oh, you're quite fast." Cassiopeia stretched herself once again before sitting up and fixing her hair.

Riven didn't respond, she simply nodded and awkwardly ran her fingers through her still-wet hair.

"Shall we go?" The smile on Du Couteau's face lit up, and Riven agreed with her mind - the person in front of her was somehow reminding her of a viper, but she had a lot to see and understand before knowing if it was in the good or the bad way.


	9. I - IX

Riven did not know many restaurants around nor she ever bothered to check them out. The money she had was as existent as the respect people paid to her - almost none.

It was clear though that the person by her side was not only well respected but also knew all the areas in the Empire.

It felt wrong, as Riven hated living off someone, when Cassiopeia walked with her into one of surprisingly fancy place. The soldier didn't think that those exist in the city - at least not in lower class areas.

"What's wrong Riven?" Young Du Couteau glanced over her shoulder to see the soldier looking around awkwardly.

"I'm not used to..." It felt like she was not meant to be in place like this. Though she had to admit, the place was fit for her tastes.

The lights were not dim, but not too bright, just enough to make up the really nice mood. The glorious Noxian symbols were shining in bloody red color, and Riven's eyes were wandering around searching for every single one of them.

The tables were placed not close to each other, to give the customers more private space, and it all seemed really comfortable. Also expensive.

And Riven was mostly bugged by that last thought.

"Just follow me." Cassiopeia suddenly locked their arms and led Riven into one of the tables, making the soldier feel kind of embarassed.

As she finally put her weight against the chair and the waitress who put down the menus left, Riven decided to open her mouth once again.

"I cannot afford to order anything." It was just a glance, but she was sure that none of the meals were cheap enough.

"Silly, I invited you here, so you're free to order anything you want!" The low laugh escaped from Cassiopeia's mouth. "Shouldn't the one inviting to a date be responsible for the costs?"

Something grew inside Riven's throat and stopped her from breathing for a moment. She immediately tensed at those words and frowned.

"I, excuse me?" While it was quite difficult to do at the moment, she forced herself to look into Du Couteau's eyes.

"Oh." Cassiopeia finally realized it was not the best way to approach the soldier. "It's a joke, don't take it to your heart, Riven."

For a moment, while trying to figure out what to say and how to behave, Riven took another look on the meals and discovered that she's clueless about anything written on the card in her hands.

Her tastes weren't any different from a commoner, she didn't know the fancy names of the usual, or at least close to it, food she would consume.

"Would you like me to recommend you something?" Cassiopeia quickly started to follow up and understand the uneasiness Riven was going through. "What do you like to eat?"

It felt like voice from heaven to rescue the soldier from suffering, but at the same time Riven did not like to be pitied.

"Meat I guess..." She felt so simple by giving that answer. "Steaks are always good."

"Maybe a tenderloin steak? I think you might like it." Brown haired girl slowly slided her finger across the menu, finding the thing for herself. "I would not suggest anything like that for a lunch, but you're big girl."

At that certain moment Riven had no idea if Cassiopeia is actually mockingly-joking about Riven's age or giving a not-so-nice comment about her body. She wouldn't dare to compare her body to slim figure of the younger Du Couteau, but she never thought bad of herself either. Riven was just well-built.

If they weren't in a restaurant, the soldier would hit herself for so many anxious thoughts.

As the waitress appeared once again by their table, Cassiopeia ordered the meals for two of them, sparing Riven from awkward stuttering.

"Is something bothering you?" Cassiopeia looked right into soldier's eyes.

At first tanned woman didn't want to speak up, but one thing she learned from dealing with Du Couteau siblings was to be more forward to not get into a bad position.

"Yes, more than one thing." Cassiopeia's eyebrow rise. "I am no one, and yet I'm sitting here with you, Cassiopeia Du Couteau, having a lunch. At the same time your sister seems to really hate me and put me on the list for the upcoming arena event. How can I not be bothered?"

"Oh well dear..." Brown haired one smiled gently. "Answer for the first question is in what you just said!"

Riven frowned.

"Unlike my dear sister, I prefer to play nice with, well, people I might have some interest in." Her speech stopped for the moment, in which waitress bring the drinks. But as soon as the third party left, she continued. "I would like to help you."

"Why?" The soldier barked the question before reaching out for the glass of water.

"Because I may have an use of you in the future." Cassiopeia put her elbows on the table and rested her head on the palms. "You may treat this lunch as my little bargain to slightly persuade you, lil' Riv."


	10. I - X

Upon hearing Cassiopeia's words, Riven felt like a prisoner before the execution. As a person of honor, she would never back from her word, even if it was stolen right from her mouth. The situation was not so complicated, and it meant that she was already in debt towards Cassiopeia by using her money, even if it was an invitation from Du Couteau's side.

She tried her best to not tense up, but feeling as in given no choice, she had to follow up on the woman's track. Apparently, the younger sibling of Katarina could appear as an ally.

"Persuade me?" After longer while of silence, Riven finally spoke. Her eyes were fixated on her conversation partner. "To do what if I may know?"

Cassiopeia giggled, gently tapping on the table. "It's simple! Treat it as equal an exchange between us."

Riven would never admit how tensed up she was getting, hearing young Du Couteau's voice.

"I might have found that my dear sister had taken interest in you, and would like to wipe the smirk off her face obviously!" Cassiopeia quickly stopped as the waiter walked up towards their table showing a vile smile right as he left.

"I am no one." Riven narrowed her brows.

"Maybe now you are, but soon, you will realize who you may become." The woman reached towards the glass and watched the liquid move against the walls. "A street fighter like you might have more potential than those uptight soldiers... I think. But aren't we all taking wild guesses? You have a choice though. You can accept my help and try to survive, or die in the next arena, it's up to you."

Riven looked down and finally realized the situation she was in. A shiver ran down her spine, as she finally thought of it - in less than two months she could die, and there was nothing she could do about it. The mere training in the beginners section was a simple preparation for the upcoming wars, not the one versus one combat, where she would face more experienced fighters - people who had faced death and sliced through their enemies to survive. She had yet to become one of them.

The thought of it was somewhat thrilling.

"What are you afraid of?" The voice threw her off her tracks.

"What am I afraid of?" She repeated as her gaze rose up to Du Couteau's face.

"Yes, Riven. It's a simple question." Cassiopeia rolled her eyes.

"I'm not afraid of anything!" The reply came out of soldier's mouth without thinking it through. Following her current situation - it was, surprisingly, not a lie. She was getting a bit excited.

"Oh?" A sudden smirk drew its lines on the other girl's face. "Then why are you using such a fake polite speech towards others, trying to fool everyone and make them believe in how kind you are?"

Riven frowned.

"You are afraid, it's visible, no need to lie when your friend asks you a simple question?" Cassiopeia`s calm voice made the soldier's heart skip a beat.

Was Riven that obvious? But more importantly, should she even reveal her reason - was there anything to lose?

She decided to give it a blind shot and trust the woman.

"Noxus does not tolerate cowards or weaklings." Riven clenched her fists. "The no names have no position here, nor power. And I do belong with them."

Slowly she looked over the table.

"Being born into wealth, would you understand my thoughts?" The soldier calmly spoke, and her eyes were locked at Cassiopeia. Snarl on the woman's face clearly shown her disgust towards Riven's point of view.

"And you think no one worked to get on the top? That being in a better situation than a street rat like you changes anything?" The words sounded quite offensive, almost as if Du Couteau would spit a poison towards the soldier.

"Did you?" Riven narrowed her brows. "Unimportant, what I meant was - your kind is feared by the sound of the name, your words are not to be spoken against. The rats like me have no voice. Or rather, it would cause me troubles, wouldn't it?"

"What do you aim for, Riven?" Cassiopeia tapped impatiently on the table.

"Me? I'm aiming for the top."


End file.
